


Houston, You Know the Drill

by wellthisisprettyrisque (collettephinz)



Series: Dead-Alive Study Time [4]
Category: All Time Low, College AU - Fandom
Genre: Extreme stress, M/M, Near Death Experience, Shooter, Stress, Trespasser - Freeform, awful tagging, lockdown - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-06 21:34:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4237476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/collettephinz/pseuds/wellthisisprettyrisque
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex fucked up, missed a lab, and has to make it up. Unfortunately, at the same moment that he was hanging out in the science building, getting the lab over with, a crazed man on drugs decides he wants to do something stupid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Houston, You Know the Drill

**Author's Note:**

> so it's not an actual shooting or anything like that and no one gets hurt, it's just a lot of stress being in a lockdown and Alex definitely has a life changing experience

Alex was in the middle of his Chemistry II classroom when the announcement came over the PA system telling them that the campus was on lockdown. This was a problem for two reasons. 

One, this wasn't a drill. Otherwise Alex wouldn't have been given permission to come to this classroom and finish his lab after hours. Two, he was in this lab after hours. By Alex; the professor had gone to the lounge for coffee and would have to stay there. So Justin was stuck in this classroom with someone out there that wasn't supposed to be and he didn't have a key to lock the doors. This was also a chemistry lab classroom, meaning tons of windows and few places to hide.  

His heart started going crazy and Alex had to lower himself to the ground, crouching, steadying himself on the counter. He took slow, deep breaths and tried to stave off the panic attack. Alex hadn't had one of these since he met Jack and become his longtime boyfriend. Jack had this way of keeping him calm no matter how freaked out he was. But look at that, Jack wasn't here, Alex couldn't lock the doors, his head was swimming, and he was going to get shot. Oh god, he was gonna get shot. He was going to get shot, he was going to die, in this god damn classroom, all alone and far away from his boyfriend, all because he'd missed one stinking class after waking up with a migraine he didn't want to deal with in class. He almost started crying but quickly smacked a hand over his mouth. The guy could be right outside the door. He needed to keep quiet.  

His brain started working again and Alex went to the lab desk furthest from the door and slipped to the floor behind it. With the door and the dangers behind it out of sight, Alex could only focus on his fear and rabbit heart. He bit his lip against a whimper, then did the only thing he thought would help.  

He pulled out his phone (set it to silent) and brought up Jack’s number, opting to text him because a call would require too much noise.  

_jack…_

_**Shit hey where are you the schools in lockdown and were wondering where you are?** _

_is everyone home_

_**Yeah Rian came home early and Vic doesnt have class till three and I had an outdoor thing and we were dismissed where are you** _

_kami im in the science building and i cant get get out_

**_Oh god_ **

**_Alex_ **

**_Did you lock the door is a prof there_ **

_no the proffessor left and took the key and theyre not here and im hiding but i cant lock any of the doors im kinda scared_

Alex jumped when his phone began to vibrate. He saw the name "Jack B." light up on screen. The brunet bit his lip and weighed the risks. He couldn't risk too much noise, but... He really, really wanted to hear Jack’s voice. Alex picked up and put the phone to his ear. 

_"H-hello?"_

_”Hey,"_ breathed Jack on the other end. He sounded wrecked. _"Remember how we first met?"_

_"I spilled coffee on you and started laughing like a psycho because I didn't know what to so," Alex whispered back with a ghost of a smile. "Why?"_

_"No reason. You know I love you, right? More than anything?"_

Alex’s breath hitched in his throat and his vision blurred. He quickly brought a hand up to his mouth to stifle any more noise because he didn't trust himself to be silent. He took in a shuddered breath and turned his attention back to the call. "I-I know," he replied through the tears. "I... I love you too." 

_"God, baby, don't cry..."_

It suddenly became really difficult to breath and Alex’s face scrunched up in the effort to stop fucking crying, he could die! Jack wasn't trying to make it worse, but he definitely wasn't helping. Alex took in a few short breaths to get himself under control before he replied, _"I'm not."_

_”Good,"_ and Jack sounded suddenly firm and steady. He probably knew Alex was lying and knew he had to step up. _"Breathe deep, Lex. Everything will be okay, we're watching the news and they have SWAT on the scene and everything."_

"Who the fuck is in here?" Alex hissed, because the SWAT team? What? 

_"A crazed gunman on bath salts,”_ Jack explained. _"He shot a security guy on campus, tried to shoot up a classroom but he got cornered and jumped out a window. Shit, Alex, he's in your building."_

A broken sob slipped out and Alex covered his mouth again, biting his tongue. "Okay," he said, steadying himself. "Okay. Rian called dibs on my stereo system back when we were kids, but everything else is for you guys to divvy up. 'Jacky, I have a small, oak box hidden under my clothes in the dresser. I know you know where it is, you've found it before. Thanks for not picking the lock. The, uh, the key. It's on my keychain, next to the house key, silver with the number 32589 on it. Open the box, but it's for your eyes only, no one else." 

_"Alex, please, stop..."_

"No, you stop, I gotta get this out." Alex took in a few more quick breaths, organizing his thoughts. "Okay, and, uhm, that shirt? The one you say I look best in? Do me a favour and make sure I'm buried in that, I don't wanna be in my funeral looking like crap. Even if I get shot in the face and it's closed casket, I just wanna look good for you, babe," and he winced, tears falling down his cheeks. "That's all I've ever wanted, is to look good and make you proud to have me at your side." 

He listened to Jack take in a shaky breath of his own. _"... Come on, Lex, you and I have always agreed that you're the good looking one in this relationship. I'm the bodyguard, remember?"_

Alex laughed, but it was high pitched and borderline psychotic. It died into more sobs, and he was probably going to die. Then his heart stopped when he heard footsteps coming down the hall, and yeah, he was going to die. It was unavoidable. Clatter and banging was heard at a constant beat, the guy was checking all the doors frantically, looking for one that was unlocked. And then the gunman got to the chem lab door. 

He threw it open, fell inside, and cursed. Alex could hear him, hear the man. He was talking to himself, ranting, raving, but it was all muddled and Justin couldn't understand a word of it. He ended the call but didn't say anything to Jack. He just sent him a text that read, _"I love you,”_ and turned off his phone.  

Then he waited. 

Waited for the gunman who was high as a kite to stumble into him and put a bullet in his skull. It was going to happen, he couldn't hear anyone else in the halls, not even the quiet thunk of military grade boots on the linoleum. He was going to die, here, in his fucking classroom. Alex made a face. Wow, dying at a school, what an awful way to go. Pretty freaking poetic, and he should really focus on the mumbling man. Something moved outside the window, he saw it in his peripherals, and Justin carefully turned his head to look. 

He suddenly felt pretty fucking relieved.  

Snipers were along the roof, three of them, dressed in black and all of them training their scopes in his direction. One of them even took notice of Alex looking at them and raised his hand in the universal gesture of, "it's okay." He wanted to sigh in utter relief but knew that would make too much noise, so he kept holding his breath. Then he didn't have any breath in him, because the gunman placed his hands on the desk Alex was behind and starting thumping his head on it rhythmically, cursing himself. Alex stifled a cry and tore his lip. He tasted iron, metallic and bitter on his tongue, and closed his eyes. He didn't want to see it coming. The man starting rounding the table, coming in on Alex’s left, and he knew that his relief was short lived. The snipers probably didn't have a shot and wouldn't get the order in time and he was going to die. Hopefully Jack had been listening when he'd told him about the box. 

A bang rang out, but it wasn't in the room. Alex nearly jumped out of his skin when the gunman fell into his line of sight, bleeding through a perfect shot above his ear. His dead eyes were boring right into the brunet and Alex knew he would have nightmares about this psycho. His head whipped around to the window, where the snipers were beginning to leave, and he saw the perfect circle where the bullet had broken through the glass, so fast that it didn't make a crack. 

Alex slumped, exhausted, and started crying. 

Seconds later, the room was filled with cops, all of them shouting and calling out orders until they found Alex, hiding and crying. Immediately the men calmed, and they pulled Alex gently to his feet, giving him all the reassurances about how it was going to be okay, the man was dead, he couldn't hurt him, how he was going to be okay and he was alive. Alex always thought it was stupid when the cops said these things in the TV shows, but now he was grateful. It felt good to have a professional tell him the psycho was dead and he was okay. It drove the nail home and while he wasn't actually okay, he would be. 

hey took him outside, let the paramedics usher him to an ambulance and sat him down in the back. It was all a crowded rush as they checked him out and took tiny flecks of glass from his hair. He hadn't thought the bullet had passed that close to him. He stuttered out his name and what he was doing in the room, but they quickly shushed him. One of the cops asked him if he knew an Jack Barakat. 

Alex lurched up, suddenly alert and alive. "Where is he?" he asked, barely even bothering to hide his desperation. The cop nodded professionally. 

"He gave us a call and informed us of the room you were in," the man explained. "We placed snipers along the roof to make sure you'd be safe if the man came in. We were lucky enough to catch him just as he entered the room. You're lucky he was acting as levelheaded as he had when he got here, or we would have taken him aside to talk to him, and by then, it would have been too late." 

Alex’s heart skipped a beat. Jack had saved his life. How 'bout that. "Is he here?" 

"He is," the cop replied. "Would you like to see him?" 

"Yes," Alex breathed, unable to keep his smile away. "Absolutely. Please." 

The man left and Alex was left with the paramedics for a few minutes. It came him a moment to think things through. There hadn't been more than a second between when Alex stopped talking and then hanging up, so Jack had probably been running to the scene the second Alex had texted him, telling him where he was. Alex called Jack an idiot all the time, but they both knew it was a lie, and now... Now, Alex didn't think he'd be able to joke about his boyfriend's intelligence for a long time. It was a good feeling. Knowing that he had someone who had his back in every situation. 

So he knew a number of things now. He knew not to let a professor leave him in a room without the keys. He knew that his phone could actually save him in a lock down, so screw professors who told them to put the phones away. He knew that he would be taking some self defense classes and getting Rian and Jack to train him. He knew that bath salts were awful and he was never doing drugs again, no matter what. He knew that Jack was the best boyfriend anyone could ever ask for. And he knew he was going to kiss the hell out of Jack once he got here, audience be damned. 

"Do you know where-- oh, god, Alex!" 

The brunet's head shot up at the sound of his boyfriend's voice, and suddenly, boyfriend wasn't a good enough title. It wasn't... It was too weak, too ordinary. Jack was more than his boyfriend, he was his everything. His best friend, his most trusted ally, his family, his lover... Boyfriend was just falling short of everything Jack was to him. 

"Alex, are you okay?" and Alex came back to himself to find Jack standing in front of him, a gentle hand on his shoulder. Yep. Everyone around him could go fuck themselves. 

Still sitting on the back of the ambulance, Alex didn't say a word as he lifted his hand to cup the back of Jack’s neck and bring him down to his height for a slow, sweet kiss. It was familiar, they'd done this many time before, but Alex hadn't been prepared for the rush of unadulterated _love_  that ran through him, heady and warm. He felt Jack freeze in shock, because Alex never showed him affection in public, but then melted into the kiss and placed his hands on Alex’s waist, still very careful in case Alex was injured. That was Jack. Always looking out for everyone but himself.  

Well Alex had had enough of it, and he brought his other and up to twist in Jack’s shirt, coaxing him and turning this slow kiss into something more. He practically lapped his way into Jack’s mouth, getting the other to open up by moving his hand to tug Jack’s hair. It was an underhanded tactic because Jack really got off to the hair-pulling thing, but Alex didn't care yet. Their tongues fought, and the kiss became more primal than sweet. Alex was feeling the adrenaline and realizing that he had escaped death and all he wanted to do in this moment was live it up with the man who had saved his life. 

Then a throat was cleared and Jack jumped back, face absolutely red, ducking in shame at the chiding expression of the paramedic. But Alex only stared at Jack, a lazy grin forming, his pupils blown and mouth swollen. He wasn't ashamed. Not at all, not with someone that looked like Jack. The paramedic seemed to think otherwise. 

"He may be in a shock, and could use all the oxygen he can get," the medic explained to Jack with a raised brow. Jack nodded dumbly and mumbled an apology. Alex laughed because it was positively adorable. "He doesn't need the hospital, he isn't injured, only tired," the paramedic continued. "Take him home, and I'm assuming you know where that is?" Jack nodded again. "Yes, take him home, let him rest, no fooling around for a day or two. Just for coping’s sake. Though I know you won’t actually listen.” Jack flushed an even deeper red, almost matching the coloured streak in his midnight hair, but again, nodded. "Okay. The police will want his statement, but they'll wait a day or two. The gunman was pronounced DOS, which makes it easier for the victims. Take him home?" 

"Yes sir," Jack mumbled, before pulling Alex up by the upper arm, but still very gentle. Alex grinned wider. 

"You're my hero, 'Jacky," he drawled, sneaking an arm around his everything's waist. Jack was still red, but he chuckled. 

"Let's get you home." 


End file.
